If electronic, biological, and molecular technologies continue to be developed and used at approximately the same, or greater, rate as they are now, the world of the 21st Century will be even more different from the 20th than the 20th was from the 17th or 18th. It is very difficult to overstate the extent and magnitude of technologically induced social and environmental change over the next decades.
Predictor: Dator, Jim
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article for Future Research Quarterly, futurist Jim Dator makes the following statement: ”If electronic, biological, and molecular technologies continue to be developed and used at approximately the same, or greater, rate as they are now, the world of the 21st Century will be even more different from the 20th than the 20th was from the 17th or 18th. It is very difficult to overstate the extent and magnitude of technologically induced social and environmental change over the next decades. It almost certainly will surpass anything we have experienced personally or historically … the future will seem extremely chaotic and confusing to everyone.”
Biography:Jim Dator was a futurist who is credited with founding the first Future Studies program in 1971. He has been director of the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies at the University of Hawaii. (Futurist/Consultant.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: General, Overarching Remarks
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Future Research Quarterly
Title, headline, chapter name: American State Courts, Five Tsunamis, & Four Alternative Futures
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.futures.hawaii.edu/dator/courts/tsunamis.pdf
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Chick, Jason